Wire fabric



United States Patent O Filed June 27, 1958, Ser. No. 744,988 1 Claim. (Cl. 24S-5) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in wire fabrics. It relates most particularly to a wire fabric especially adapted to serve as that class of upholstery accessory commonly known as an insulator pad. Insulator pads are mesh fabric members, which are pliably flexible but usually reinforced by at least some wire strands, inserted between the spring assembly ofv an upholstered furniture or automobile seat and the padding layers applied over said spring assembly. The prime function of the pad is to support the padding properly and to prevent it from working into the open spaces within and between the coils or other spring units making up the assembly. Common forms of insulator pads now in use are burlap sheets with spaced apart parallel wires stitched therethrough, or a mesh made up of wires and flexible cords. It will be apparent, however, that the fabric forming the subject matter of the present invention has many applications other than insulating pads.

Insulating pads of the common types described above are subject to certain disadvantages, arising mainly from the fact that they are substantially inelastic in their own planes, but are unyieldable in the same manner as a woven wire fabric. Hence if the pad is merely placed over a spring assembly loosely, without edge fastening of any kind, and the spring cushion is subjected to heavy localized pressure and deflection such as commonly occurs in furniture usage, the resulting tensions in the pad tend to dislocate or move the pad out of its original position and also to introduce a bunching of the pad by causing wrinkling or folding thereof. On the other hand, if an insulator pad of the common type described is secured to the spring assembly around its edges, its inelastic character tends to spread any localized pressure on the cushion over a larger area of the cushion, or over its entire area, and to draw the cushion down in graduated degrees at substantial distances from the point of application of the pressure. As is well known in the art, this is not a desirable characteristic in cushion action and is not conducive to maximum comfort. Good practice now indicates that insofar as possible only that portion of a cushion be deflected to which a load is actually applied.

The principal object of the present invention is, therefore, the provision of a wire fabric overcoming all of the discussed disadvantages of existing insulator pads when used as such. That is, it may be secured to a frame around its edges, whereby to be held firmly in position, and yet is resiliently yieldable in all directions in its own plane whereby to permit deflection thereof transversely to its plane. A further provision localizes any transverse deflection, so that a load applied thereto will deflect only the immediate area of the load application, and leave even closely adjacent areas substantially unaffected. In this manner the desirable characteristics of yieldability of a spring assembly are preserved.

Other objects are simplicity and economy of construction, elllciency and dependability of operation, and adaptability for use in a wide variety of applications.

With these objects in View, as well as other objects which will appear in the course of the specification, reference will be had to the drawing, wherein the single view is a face view of a wire fabric embodying the present invention.

In said drawing the numeral 2 refers generally to a Patented Dec. 12, 1961 comparatively rigid rectangular wire frome wherein one pair of parallel sides are designated by the numerals 4 and 6, and the other pair of parallel sides are designated by the numerals 8 and 10. Extending between sides 4 and 6, generally parallel to each other and to sides 8 and 10, are a plurality of resilient spring wires each designated in general by the numeral 12. Each of said wires is formed to present a series of offsets or loops 14, said loops being planar, disposed substantially in the plane of frame 2, and being spaced approximately regularly `between sides 4 and 6 of the frame. The end loops of each wire are secured respectively to sides 4 and 6 of the frame by any suitable means such as ring clips 16.

It will be seen that each loop 14 is closed, that is, the portion of the wire at the base of each loop intersect each other, and extend in relatively opposite directions from the loop. vT he sections of the wire extending between loops 14 may be termed connecting portions, and are designated by the numeral 18. Each loop 14 is linked about the corresponding loop of the next adjacent wire, as shown, whereby to connect each adjacent pair of wires together periodically along their lengths. Thus each loop is `disposed at one side of the loop through which it is inserted, and the connecting portions 18 adjacent said former loop are disposed at the opposite side of the plane `of the latter loop. The wire 12 at one side of the fabric has each loop 14 attached to side 8 of the frame by any suitable fastener such as clip 20, and the wire 12 at the opposite edge of the fabric has each connecting portion 18 thereof secured -to side 10 of the frame by a fastener such as clip 22. This mode of securing the wires 10 together by inserting the loops 14 of each wire through the corresponding loops of the next preceding wire is well adapted for production by automatic machinery.

When the fabric is to be used as an insulator pad in upholstery as previously described, a fabric frame 2 of the proper size and shape is simply laid over the top surface of the spring abse or deck, and the padding layers and upholstery applied over the fabric, during the usual construction of the cushion. Obviously the frame wire 2 could be either a heavy wire supplied especially for the purpose, as shown, or could be a marginal wire or wires, or other structural members, of the spring assembly itself. If a special frame Wire as illustrated is used, it may be secured to the spring assembly by clips or other suitable fasteners.

Since the fabric is securely fastened around its edges, it cannot become displaced or mis-located during use, nor can it become hunched or folded as the cushion is repeatedly deflected or compressed, and then released. The fabric is of course resiliently yieldable in all directions in its own plane, as well as transversely to its plane, so that as the cushion is deflected, there will not be suillcient tension in the plane of the fabric to cause a deflection at one portion of the cushion area to be transmitted in any appreciable degree to surrounding areas of the cushion. In other words, deflection of the fabric out of its plane will be highly localized, and the characteristics of yieldability of the base spring assembly will therefore not be appreciably affected. This l0- calization of the fabric deflection is greatly enhanced by the fact that each loop 14 is closed, that is, the wire portions at the base of the loop intersect each other and extend in essentially opposite directions from the loop, and due further to the fact that each loop may therefore fbe contracted or made smaller by opposite forces on the adjacent connectingportions 18. Thus when a portion of the fabric area is deflected, the loops in that area will simply be contracted, and the deflection will be transmitted to surrounding areas only slightly, and in a rapidly diminishing degree as the distance from the load area ncreases. This effect would be substantially lost or greatly diminished if the loops, instead of being closed, were merely U-shaped. The spacing of the wires and the size and spacing of the loops will be determined by the tineness of the mesh which may be necessary or desirable. The relative yieldability of the fabric is determined also by the number and spacing of the wires and loops, and by the stiffness of the wire and the tension under which it is applied to the frame.

The fabric may also be used for purposes other than insulating pads. For example, it may be used in belttype mesh conveyors, or may serve as the actual spring deck in certain types of furniture. It may be used also for protective screens or shields, or as fencing material, particularly where resilient protection against impact or shock is desired.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention, it will be readily apparent that many minor changes of structure and operation could be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

As an article af manufacture, an open frame, and a fabric consisting of a series of similarly arranged congurated wires in generally parallel relationship each secured at its ends to said frame and extending thereacross, said wires being resilient and each having a series of ofsets formed therein, said offsets constituting a series of loops joined by connecting portions of said wires, each of said loops being linked about the corresponding loop of a next adjacent Wire, all of said loops lying substantially in the plane of said frame, and each of said loops being closed, the connecting wire portions which join cach loop lying in intersecting relation at the base of said loop and extending in substantially opposite directions from said loop, whereby any point of any of said wires may be resiliently deected either transversely to the plane of said frame, or in any direction within the plane of said frame.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 213,363 Wakeman Mar. 18, 1879 256,987 Dodge et al Apr. 25, 1882 323,206 Rich July 28, 1885 20 441,653 Foster Dec. 2, 1890 750,903 Shrum et al. Feb. 2, 1904 762,536 Klipfel June 14, 1904 935,308 Jones Sept. 28, 1909 1,734,147 Rhoads Nov. 5, 1929 26 2,218,560 Stephens Oct. 22, 1940 2,250,863 Goodloe July 29, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 12,000 Great Britain 1892 

